synthetic motor oil

I have owned Toyotas for the past 30 years and been very happy with
them. I buy my cars used, typically 4-5 years old and keep them for
4-5 years or when they get near 200,000 miles. In each case I change
my own oil because it's cheaper, I can use the oil and filter I want,
and I don't trust the garages.
Last spring I bought a used 2013 Lexus RX350 with 16,000 miles. The
Lexus dealer had put synthetic Mobil 1 oil in it upon delivery and also
at the first free oil change 10,000 miles later. This past weekend I
was due for another oil change at 35,000 miles and did it myself this
time. I decided to go with Pennzoil Platinum Pure Plus 0W-20 after
researching synthetic oils. The Toyota oil filter came from Lexus and
the oil from Walmart. Total cost was under $47 for the filter and
seven quarts of oil.
Maybe it's my imagination or the effect of new oil, but I must say the
engine sounds quieter and my average gas mileage has climbed by a mile
a gallon.
Other than extended oil change intervals has anyone noticed a
difference when switching from conventional to synthetic motor oils?
Have you noticed a difference between different brands of oils?

I think some people obsess about oil a lot more than is necessary.
Change it every once in a while and use any API rated oil, you will be
fine.
99.99% of cars are junked for thinks other than oil related failure
and most people are not really that diligent about oil, particularly
the 2d and 3d owner of the car.
If you really want to see people who obsess about oil, go to one of
the boating BBs. They act like Yamaha and OMC have their own refinery
somewhere pumping out this $8-10 a quart magical formula oil.

Many years ago when synthetics were relatively new, my brother and I did
some experiments with high rpm small displacement engines. Systhetic is
is superior to regular oil.
That said, regular oil is still good for most cars and will work for
200,000 miles on the engine. I just use regular oil. If I had a
Corvette or Lamborghini . . .

Or if temperatures dropped to -40, or went up to 100+F, or if the
engine is lugged -like towing trailer, or revved high, like in racing
- the synthetic has real advantages.
I've switched both of my vehicles to synthetic, doubling my change
intervals - so the extra cost is minimal. I change the oil spring and
fall on both vehicles, whether the miles call for it or not. If I
manage to put more than 10-15,000km on the vehicle before the season
change, I'd change the oil early. (but we don't put that many miles
on, generally. If we travel across the continent next summer, the car
might get 3 changes instead of 2.

STP, Motor Honey, Yamaha Ring Free and all the other overpriced but
largely ineffective mouse milks.
Years ago they asked Smokey Yanuck (famous stock car mechanic) about
the STP sticker on his NASCAR racers. He said "it don't seem to hurt
anything".

Marvel Mystery oil is a good "tool" for solving some of the problems
neglect inflicts on an engine.. Stuck rings and restricted oil
galleries, as well as noisy gummed up lifters - all often caused by
insufficient oil changes or oil quality, can more often than not be
helped by the use of MMO.
Not necessary on an adequately maintained engine running a quality
oil.

Anyone who believes all oils are the same is very delusional. And
anyone who thinks changing the oil on a reasonable schedule is
wastefull is just fooling themselves.
Oil is the lifeblood of the engine. It lubricates, cools, and cleans
the moving surfaces of the engine, preventing, or at least greatly
reducing both wear and corrosion.
Anyone who has worked extensively on engines can tell you what a
neglected engine looks like, and can tell the neglected from the well
maintained with his eyes closed.

We are assuming you change the oil somewhat on schedule but I know
people who change it every year or two and still do not have oil
related problems.
As for the oil, you would have to really look hard to find any oil
that does not meet the manufacturer's requirements. It is all going to
be API SN unless someone found a case in the back from the Disco days.
At the end of the day, most cars are junked because the body rusts
out, all the doodads fail or the plastic interior simply decays away.
The engine is still running.
I am a "beater driver" who runs my cars until the wheels fall off
(100k+ miles) and I haven't gotten rid of a single one because the
engine failed. It is always just a combination of a dozen other
nagging little things that add up to more than the car is worth.

If your wheels fall off at 100,000 miles you are neglecting your
vehicle bif time. I BUY vehicles with twice that mileage on them - up
here in the rust belt of the great white north.My truck is 20 years
old with 340,000km on it and it's not half worn out yet.
Any piece of junk today will go 100,000 miles (160,000km) with 4 or 5
oil changes. Getting the next hundred out of a neglected engine is the
trick. Also, the recommended oil on many vehicles today is a full
synthetic. My wife's car calls for a synthetic blend 5w20 at the
minimum - full synthetic 0w20 preferred.
I've only gotten rid of two vehicles with under 240,000km on it in the
last 30 years - and one was to replace it with a vehicle with
307,000km on it. The only one I scrapped had well over 375,000km on it
- just under 100,000km on a crappy rebuilt engine. I gave the other
one to my future son-in-law when his Chrysler 300 was stolen and the
insurance co dragged their heals paying him out. It was ready for the
scrap yard due to a badly rusted body (1995 Mystique) but mechanically
it was still excellent. The first owner had neglected the body - I
bought it cheap 10 years old with over 100,000km on the clock and it
only got about 5500km put on it per year for the 7 or 8 years we owned
it.

\
The engine was never why I got rid of a vehicle, It is stuff like the
AC needs $1500 worth of work, the body was rusting out, it needed
paint, the transmission was on it's last legs and the interior was
sunburned so badly it would never come back.
(the F150 we sold Obama for $4500 plus $450 for the scrap and $80 in
tax credits)

If you have anything that new, we are not talking about the same car.
I have a 97 Honda and a 2000 Ford.

Honda? I logged 320K Km on my '98 CRV. Nothing was wrong. I got tired of
it and sold it. I ran an ad. on local Kijiji and phone started ringing
within 30 mins. First guy came along with cash and took the car. I think
some people's job is perusing ads. every hour of the day, LOL!

A friend of mine has had 3 CRVs. He's gotten 200K+ miles on each one,
without any major repairs, other than AC. The AC systems were the weak
spot, he had trouble there, compressors, condensers, clutch, etc on
two of them. From what I saw, they were very reliable vehicles,
especially considering the price. The BMW X5 here has some real annoying
design flaws, like window regulators that break, sending the glass
crashing down, breaking it. Had two different ones go that way, another one
go without breaking the glass. Also, their rubber parts, eg the big elbow
on the intake system, CV boots, just don't last. Those CRVs, I don't
think my buddy replaced a CV boot. The X5 goes through them at about 60K.

I don't have a clue how many miles my 97 Honda has on it. The speedo
was obviously tampered with, the CarFax is suspicious and the 10,000
wheel never moved for 10 years (it bumped half way over and snapped
back in a few hundred miles). Now it started going again. It says 100k
and change. I can say this has been a low maintenance vehicle for me.
I did buy the dealer $1000 belt job (water pump, main crank seals etc)
because it is more than I wanted to deal with on a Prelude. The first
step in the shop manual is "remove engine" ;-)
When I looked at it at the dealer, they had loosened the motor mounts
and jacked it over a bit. That also gets access to remove the oil pan
for the seals. Other than that, I replaced the "juice" parts in the
clutch, tires and put in an MP3 player. It does get fresh oil now and
then but certainly not as often as it would take to make Clare happy
and the oil is from Rural King ($1.50/qt) as often as not.
Cars are Bic lighters to me.
When it quits, I will throw it away and buy another one.

When you say "once in a while"- how many months and guestimate of how
many miles? twice a year?
Depends too how clean the oil stays - which will also depend somewhat
on how hot the little critter runs.
You don't have to keep me happy - just you and your Honda.

That's certainly happened to me too. One of them leaked from oil
pan, the transmission, the power steering, and the radiator, and had
dents in every fender, but stil ran smooth and got the same mileage as
it did when I got it. But I buy my cars when they are 7 years old
and keep them for 7 and it just wasn't worth fixing. BTW, on one
Lebaron I'd drive without power steering fluid for months at a time --
it was only a problem at speeds under 3mph -- but when I added fluid,
the steering was as good as new, until the fluid ran out in 2 or 3
days. I guess enough stayed in, below the hose level, to lubricate
the pump.

Or all the Chryslers, Toyotas, VWs etc with the "coking" problem a
few years back. Not a single one was a vehicle that followed the
"extreme conditions" oil schedule with synthetic oil.
Not a SINGLE ONE.

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